Report: Pats, Welker $6 million apart on guaranteed money

Posted by Mike Florio on July 8, 2012, 3:09 PM EDT

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The July 16 deadline for signing franchise-tagged players to long-term deals doesn’t apply only to those who have yet to sign their one-year tender offers. Those who have accepted the one-year contract also must complete a multi-year contract before July 16 at 4:00 p.m. ET.

Welker already is due to earn $9.515 million in 2012. By rule, it would cost the Pats $11.418 million to use the tag again on Welker again in 2013.

And while that justifies Welker seeking $20.933 million guaranteed, it also presumes the Pats would tag him again. Maybe they won’t; maybe they’ll decide to let the undersized wideout hit the market at age 32, forcing him to choose between taking more money with a lesser team or less money to stay with a team that consistently will be in the hunt for a championship that Welker personally has yet to win.

It may be a risk worth taking for the Patriots, who let Randy Moss hit the open market after authoring one of the best seasons for any wideout in league history. Welker seems to be firmly under the team’s spell, signing the franchise tender long before he had to — and then backtracking aggressively on comments he made regarding talks on a long-term deal after it became clear that the team didn’t appreciate his description that the discussions had “actually gotten worse.”

The talks may have gotten no better since then, but it’s hard to imagine Welker being anything other than Tom Brady’s sidekick, even if it means taking less than Welker would get under two years of the franchise tag.

FLORIO ” it’s hard to imagine Welker being anything other than Tom Brady’s sidekick “.
C’mon man …love your sight n the fact that you usually take the high road , but you’re sellin’ Welker “short” on this one.
He’s a class act that deserves better.

l78207 says:
Jul 8, 2012 7:08 PM
The pats will never pay him. They’re too cheap.
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You could ask Brady, Wilfork, and Gronkowski if the Pats are cheap. The Pats made those guys the highest paid players at their positions.

i never question organizational decisions anymore because bob kraft and BB know exactly what they’re doing and it almost always works out and i know their philosophy on aging players but i think they have to deviate on this one and pay wes the extra $6 million…he has been one of the hardest working players since he got here and he has bought into everything the organization is about plus he has developed into the best slot receiver in the game and is always among the top receivers in terms of catches and yards not to mention he has been remarkably durable for a receiver (outside the ACL tear against houston)…maybe they can meet in the middle at $3 million more guaranteed